53% Manual Work in Purchasing: 5 Routines Your Customer Portal Takes Over
More than half of all purchasing time goes into manual work
A recent 2026 B2B commerce study produced a figure that is generating discussion in many sales meetings: 53.6 percent of buyers spend more than a quarter of their working time on manual tasks in the procurement process. Requesting quotes by email, calling to ask about order status, hunting for invoices across different folders, retyping article numbers from catalogues.
The critical point: this work does not happen in your own company. It happens at the customer.
Suppliers who remove this friction earn loyalty. Suppliers who leave it in place risk that the buyer turns to a competitor next time, one who makes it easier. A B2B customer portal is the tool that addresses exactly this. The five sections below show which specific routines it takes over and what business benefit that creates.
Routine 1: Requesting and comparing quotes
The problem at the customer
Every enquiry starts with an email, often with several recipients, attachments and a note saying "as discussed". The buyer waits for a reply, follows up, compares answers manually in a spreadsheet. With three suppliers for the same product, this quickly adds up to hours per week.
What the customer portal takes over
In self-service, the buyer can configure products directly, view volume pricing and trigger a quote request in a few clicks when needed. Individual terms negotiated with sales are stored and immediately visible. No email ping-pong, no waiting for a price list.
Business benefit
Buyers who can check prices and availability themselves enquire more often and more quickly. That increases order frequency. At the same time it relieves the inside sales team of routine enquiries that previously had to be answered by phone or email.
Routine 2: Placing and managing orders
The problem at the customer
Orders by fax, phone or email mean the buyer has to look up article numbers, check quantities, fill in forms and wait for confirmations. Errors arise from retyping. Corrections cost further rounds.
What the customer portal takes over
A B2B customer portal makes it possible to place orders directly in the system. Previous orders can be reused as templates, as described in detail in the article on reordering and order history. Approval workflows, meaning the internal sign-off steps that are mandatory in many companies, can be mapped directly in the portal. Automating the ordering process here means fewer manual entries, fewer sources of error and faster processing.
Business benefit
When reordering is as simple as clicking "order again", the barrier drops. Customers order more regularly and in smaller, more predictable quantities. That stabilises revenue and reduces inventory risk on both sides.
Routine 3: Tracking order status and delivery dates
The problem at the customer
"Where is my order?" is one of the most frequent questions in every supplier's inside sales team. For the buyer, calling or emailing is not a solution but a waste of time. For the supplier's inside sales team it is effort that generates no revenue.
What the customer portal takes over
Showing the current status of an order directly in the portal makes that call unnecessary. The buyer sees whether the goods are in production, with the carrier or already on the way. Delivery dates are visible, delays are communicated proactively. What matters in order tracking in the customer portal, for example with partial deliveries, is a topic in its own right.
Business benefit
Fewer status enquiries directly mean less effort for inside sales. A considerable share of incoming customer calls concerns pure status information. Companies that provide this information digitally free up capacity that can be used more sensibly elsewhere. At the same time, perceived reliability at the customer increases.
Routine 4: Managing invoices and documents
The problem at the customer
Invoices arrive by post, by email or from different systems. Accounting needs the original document, the buyer looks for the order number, the project manager wants to know which order it belongs to. That costs time and leads to internal queries.
What the customer portal takes over
In the portal, all invoices and packing slips are centrally available, filtered by period, project or cost centre. The buyer downloads what they need without having to submit a request. Digitalising B2B purchasing here means documents are always available, structured and searchable.
Business benefit
Fewer document requests relieve both accounting and the supplier's customer service. For the customer, a tedious administrative step disappears. That sounds unspectacular, but it is a frequently cited reason why buyers prefer suppliers where processing simply works.
Routine 5: Accessing product information and documentation
The problem at the customer
Technical data sheets, safety information, certificates, dimensional drawings: anyone purchasing in B2B needs these documents regularly. Requests often end up with field sales or customer service because the information is not centrally accessible.
What the customer portal takes over
Product-related documents are stored directly with the article and available at any time. Updates are applied automatically. The buyer finds the current data sheet without having to write an email. Which certificates, data sheets and CAD files should really be stored depends on the industry.
Business benefit
For technically complex products, precisely the product categories that are common in mid-sized manufacturing, this self-service is a considerable time saver. It accelerates internal approval at the customer and therefore the entire procurement cycle. Customer loyalty in B2B often arises not from spectacular gestures but from reliable processes that work smoothly.
Which routine first?
Not every company has to tackle all five areas at once. The sensible order depends on the biggest pain point at the customer. A simple guide:
Are there many status enquiries in inside sales? Then digital order tracking is the fastest lever. Are document requests piling up in accounting? Then the digital document archive is worth doing first. Is order frequency low even though demand exists? Then simplified order placement lowers the barrier.
The start does not have to be perfect. It has to begin. A functioning basic portal with two or three of these routines already creates measurable relief before further features follow. What matters afterwards is that customers actually use the portal.
Conclusion: those who make the buyer's work easier are preferred
The 53.6 percent from the 2026 B2B commerce study are not an abstract efficiency problem. They describe the daily reality of buyers who switch between phone, email and spreadsheet every day in order to buy from suppliers who have not yet digitalised this effort.
A B2B customer portal does not solve this problem through technology for its own sake, but through a clear benefit: the buyer saves time, the supplier's inside sales team is relieved, and the business relationship becomes more stable because it runs more smoothly. That is customer loyalty measurable in order frequency, repeat purchase rate and referrals.
Manufacturers and wholesalers who understand this have an advantage. Not because they deploy more technology, but because they create less work for their customers.
